The American Earl (8 page)

Abby pulled the sheets up to her chin and stared wide-eyed at the white ceiling and the slowly turning fan. As if he were in the room with her, she could feel Matt's hands gliding over her body, soothing and exciting her all in the same moment. Her heart was racing, although she lay absolutely still. She wanted him desperately.

B
ristol Cove was an intimate pink-sand beach on the south shore of Paget Parish. Unlike the famous Elbow Beach or Horseshoe Bay, which attracted large numbers of tourists in season, the secluded cove was visited mostly by locals and often remained completely deserted. “I discovered this place a few years ago,” Matt explained the next day as he helped Abby down the steps cut into the limestone cliff.

The path was narrow, edged in blooming shrubs. The arms of the cove closed in an embrace, sheltering the beach, keeping the water calm, offering a haven for the colorful little fish that darted in and out of the submerged coral reef.

Abby wished she were one of those little fish, hiding in among the lovely branches of coral. The simple fact that she and Matt had discussed sleeping together had set her on pins and needles. Could she actually
do what Matt proposed and she had assured him she wanted to do? Could she simply have sex with him as an educational experience, then return to business as usual?

He had made no promise of a future for them; he'd implied much the opposite. But she'd approached this same point in her life once before, with Richard, and later wondered if she'd done the right thing by turning him away. She cared more about Matt, surprisingly, than she had ever cared about the man she had promised to marry. Now she wondered if she ever let Matt possess her body would she be letting him take her heart, too? And once that happened, would she find the strength to walk away from him when the time came?

Shivering despite the warm tropical breeze off the water, she followed Matt onto the pale crescent of sand. “This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen,” she whispered.

“It's a favorite of mine,” he admitted, dropping towels onto the sand. “There are others that come to mind, though.”

“Where?”

“Castle Donan. Haven't been there in years, but it's a breathtaking estate. You should travel to Scotland someday. You'd love it.”

She smiled at the fantasy. Did he really think she would ever have that kind of money? He must, having said it so casually.

“Then there's Elbia, just the other side of the mountains from Austria,” he added. “That's where my other brother and his wife live.”

“Another castle?”

He chuckled at the skepticism in her voice. “Be
lieve it or not, yes. But only one good-sized private suite belongs to Thomas. I think I mentioned that he's employed by King Jacob. The mountains there are amazing. You feel as if you're ten miles in the sky.”

Abby let out a long breath. “Your family sounds pretty amazing.” She nibbled at her lower lip. “You must miss them.”

He shrugged, but the gesture was anything but casual.

“How long has it been since you've seen your father?” She waited for a response, but none came. Perhaps she shouldn't have brought up the subject.

Instead of answering her, Matt faced the water, pulled his shirt off over his head and marched with purpose toward the turquoise wavelets. Forbidden topic. She decided to give him some space to work out whatever was bothering him.

Abby flipped a towel flat on the sand and stretched out on it. The sun was warm and yellow above her. Its heat toasted her skin pleasantly. She had smoothed on sunblock back at the house and wouldn't worry about burning. Wedging her hands beneath her chin, she watched Matt dive into the waste-deep water and swim away from her. The muscles across his shoulder blades kneaded and stretched with each stroke. Her stomach did a funny little dance in appreciation of his fine male physique.

She smiled. This was nice. No pressure to make a decision yet. No need to do anything but laze in the sun. She let her eyes drift closed.

“Time for a swim,” a voice from above stated.

“Uh-uh,” she grunted contentedly, not bothering to open her eyes. “I'm perfectly happy right here.”

“Last warning. It's in the water or else.” His no
nonsense tone told her she'd better pay attention. She rolled over and squinted up at him. Matt was standing over her, a child's plastic bucket dripping water.

“You wouldn't,” she challenged him. After all, he wouldn't drench their towels, would he?

“Try me, lady.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

He tipped the bucket.

Abby squealed and braced herself for the cold splash. But the water was a pleasant lukewarm and actually felt good after the sun's heat. Nevertheless, she leaped up and gave chase, as that was one of the time-honored rules for beach play. Matt dropped the bucket and lit out for the water.

“You'll pay, Lord Smythe!” she shouted, feeling like a teenager again.

“Have to catch me first!” He dove beneath the mirror of blue water.

Beneath the surface, Abby could see his body cutting through the shimmering liquid. Then he was gone…without a trace. She looked around in astonishment, growing worried when he didn't pop up in any of the places she thought he might. The first clue that she'd been duped came at the moment she felt both of her ankles being grasped. Her feet were pulled out from under her. Down she went.

Abby resurfaced, sputtering, laughing and shrieking at Matt in mock indignation. “You scared me to death!”

“Good.” He shook the water out of his eyes and grinned wolfishly at her. “Meant to.”

“Why?”

“So you'd cling to me for safety.”

She laughed. “Fat chance.”

He lifted a dark brow. “When I was under, I saw a sand shark.”

Abby threw her arms around his neck and drew her feet up to her chest. “Out! Get me out of here this minute.”

He was laughing at her. “It was just a baby, harmless. Come on, let's go back for the masks and fins. I want to show you my pets.”

She scowled at him as he slid an arm under her knees and started carrying her toward shore. “If your pets are larger than a bread box and have teeth, forget it.”

He grinned. “You'll love them.”

A few minutes later, they were back in the water, and Abby was enjoying the ease and speed of swimming with big blue flippers on her feet. Although she wasn't a strong swimmer, she had no trouble keeping up with Matt as they kicked toward the reef. She dipped her face into the warm water as they neared the coral outcroppings that sheltered the cove, and breathed through the snorkel.

The water was clear and she could see bright flashes of color flitting here and there ahead of them. Matt pointed out and named them for her. Blue and yellow butterfly fish. Black with white angel fish. Silvery needle fish almost as clear as the water. Comical Sergeant Majors, so curious they swam right up to her mask.

She lifted her head and treaded water while pushing the breathing tube from her mouth. “Your pets?”

Matt lifted his mask. “Mine and everyone else's. There are dozens of species living in the waters around Bermuda.”

“They're so bright, they don't look real,” Abby
said. She replaced her mask and swam a little farther, fascinated by the graceful little creatures. This was a dreamworld she never wanted to leave.

They swam for another hour. Eventually her legs began to feel wobbly, and hunger made land look appealing again.

“Had enough?” Matt asked softly. There were underlying meanings in his tone. She looked away, unable to meet his dark eyes.

“For now,” she said. “Can we come back in after lunch?”

“If you like.” He took her hand in his as they swam back toward the beach. When they were in shallow enough water to stand, she put her feet down in the soft sand. The water lapped delightfully around her, lifting her breasts with each subtle undulation.

Matt stopped in front of her. “You seemed to enjoy yourself.” He pulled off his mask and snorkel then tossed them along with Abby's and the rest of their equipment up onto the sand.

“I loved it.” Abby's eyes sparkled up at him. “Thank you.”

He couldn't imagine why he hadn't thought her the most beautiful woman on earth the first moment he'd set eyes on her. Without makeup, her hair slicked back from her face, droplets clinging to her eyelashes—she was no less than perfect.

He had no alternative but to kiss her. Moving his free hand quickly behind her neck, he brought her forward to meet him. He kissed her deeply, savoring the taste of the sea on her lips. He was lost.

In the next seconds, only scattered thoughts registered in his mind. The beach was deserted but for them. He moved her a few feet farther away from
shore, into deeper water. Her eyes widened questioningly but showed no fear. Good, he thought, if she'd been afraid of him, he would have had to stop.

He only meant to play…just a little bit, for a short while. To kiss. To touch beneath the water. To give her a brief preview of the sensations she might look forward to when…
if
they slept together. He didn't think of what he was doing as seduction until his hand slipped beneath the warm water, touched her breast and felt the nipple harden and raise beneath his thumb. She looped her arms up and around his neck, and he eased her closer, then still closer until their bodies pressed one against the other. Matt felt himself swell and grow rigid against the flat of her belly. He looked down into her eyes and saw that she had felt it, too. She didn't pull away.

“Pretty easy to see where my thoughts are,” he whispered.

She nodded, dreamy-eyed in the shoulder-deep water.

“But I'm not going to make love to you here. Not now.”

“Why not?”

“You need more time to consider what you're giving away.”

“I'm more concerned about what I might lose,” she murmured. “And I don't mean my virginity.”

“What about that husband in the future? He'll know.”

“Maybe he'll have to accept me as I am.”

As she was. Beautiful. Abby was pure joy to look upon, to be with. She made him feel all male. She dragged him out of his world of business deals, competition with himself and with others, even out of the
pain of the past. He could see need in her eyes, desire, and he wanted more than anything to give her the pleasure she so longed for.

Yet, did he dare take from her the one treasure she'd safeguarded all of her life? She claimed she was ready. But could he believe her?

If only there was a way to…

He smiled at the unexpected thought. Why not?

“Watch for intruders,” he said huskily. Before she could ask why, he ducked beneath the water, pushed her swimming suit top up over her breasts and closed his lips around one nipple. He felt her tense, then wiggle with pleasure as she clamped her hands on either side of his head beneath the water. He suckled her as long as his breath held out, then broke the surface to gasp for air.

“Oh, Matt. Oh…” She was panting and smiling and laughing out loud, as ready as any woman he'd ever known. But he still cautioned himself to give her only as much as she could handle. Or maybe it was more a question of how much he could handle without losing control of his own body. Her pleasure alone must be all that mattered, for now.

He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth, and she opened her lips to allow him to touch his tongue to hers. He let his hands follow the lines of her body, beneath the water. Kittenish sounds of frustrated delight escaped from her lips. With one hand he cupped her bottom and caressed her softly. The other moved between their bodies, stroking the inside of her thigh, sliding upward, finding the elastic opening of her bathing suit leg.

He waited, letting her get used to the touch of his hand, giving her time to react—to push him away,
show any sign of fear or uneasiness. But she was returning his kisses with fervor now. Smoothing her palms up over his bare chest, she curled her fingers between spirals of dark hair.

When she pressed herself against his hand cupped between her thighs, he took that for as green a light as he was likely to get. Matt slid his fingers inside the stretchy fabric and found the fragile lips of her womanhood. If he touched her just right,
there…
If he didn't give into the impulse to penetrate her, he'd do no physical damage.

His fingertips moved in slow, gentle circles, pressing upward against the moist, velvety flesh, but not forcing within her. Abby began to respond in an instinctive rhythm to his touch. Her head fell back and her eyes closed. Her face shone as brightly as a new day's sun. Her eyelashes fluttered, her lips pouted, drew inward, then parted. The elegant contours of her face displayed a hundred subtle emotions. He loved watching her.

“Tell me if you're not all right,” he whispered in her ear.

She didn't respond, and he wondered if she had even heard him. He sensed that she was concentrating very hard on the touch of his hands, the feelings rushing through her. Cradling her against him, he slowly, patiently moved a single wide finger over the velvety nubbin, flicking it again and again. Until she shuddered and clutched at his shoulders, her fingernails digging into his flesh.

At last he felt her body go rigid then convulse on waves of pleasure so intense he could only imagine. Abby buried her face in his chest and smothered ec
static whimpers he felt as vibrations through his entire body.

Matt continued to hold her, supporting her in the water while her world steadied, her legs found their strength again and her breathing evened out. He grinned. Not a bad compromise at that. He had kept the woman's virtue intact, at least in the anatomical sense, while showing her what all the excitement was about. Lesson #1.

Only problem was—he ached for her. Never before had he been so moved by witnessing a woman's passion. She aroused his own need to the very edge of the male precipice…but he wouldn't ask her to satisfy him. That would have to wait, although waiting was a gamble. What if she changed her mind about wanting Lesson #2?

Matt started to walk them toward the beach, his arm low around Abby's waist, guiding her unsteady steps through the water. She brought him to a halt. “Not yet,” she whispered throatily, and looked up at him with a far different expression than he'd ever seen in those coffee-and-cream eyes.